In the years since the Biden administration abandoned America’s Afghan allies to the Taliban, I’ve told you about my frustrated efforts to save Afghans I served with in the Afghanistan War. Recently, I have new hope with the proposal of the Afghan Adjustment Act cosponsored by Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA). I spoke with Miller-Meeks to learn more about the AAA.
Miller-Meeks is passionate about our military. At age 18, in 1974, she had the courage to enlist in the Army. She served active duty as a nurse and eventually retired as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve in 2000. Her husband and several members of her family also served. She’s a leader in Congress in terms of knowledge of and dedication to America’s military and veterans.
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She didn’t speak with a typical politician’s overpolished, focus-group-moderated evasive language. I felt like I was talking to a fellow veteran, one who cares deeply about our military and the Afghans who served with us in the war.
I explained how my fellow veterans and I struggled to help our Afghan allies. “I got no help from my government!”
“Exactly!” she burst out. She could not contain her disgust with the way former President Joe Biden and his administration mangled everything in Afghanistan. She didn’t want the withdrawal from Afghanistan to be like the chaotic evacuation from Saigon in 1975. “But that’s exactly what it was! The exact same thing happened all over again, where we betrayed our allies. … I was furious.” I’ve never before agreed so strongly with a politician about an issue I cared for so deeply.
Miller-Meeks explained that the AAA would expand the categories of Afghan allies who can be placed on a pathway to permanent resident status in America. It would also require the State Department to create an office capable of reviewing Afghan applications to the program and provide resources for State to do the same.
The congresswoman realizes that many Americans favor tighter immigration security and scrutiny of those allowed to enter the United States. That’s why the AAA features a new component, an in-person interview of the applicant, which would allow State to ask more in-depth questions, making sure applicants are trustworthy and served with American forces.
It would also help Afghan allies who were previously denied the Special Immigration Visa because they lacked some paperwork proving their service. As I wrote about in May, there is a bureaucratic dilemma presented by this requirement, because often the required papers were never generated upon hiring or didn’t survive years in the war-torn country. An Afghan interpreter I served with, who was with the U.S. military for almost a decade, had a recommendation letter from a commanding officer, certificates recognizing his work, and plenty of photos and videos proving his service, but was denied a visa because he was unable to furnish an “HR Letter.”
Miller-Meeks pointed out one Afghan interpreter who was unable to furnish the previously required recommendation letter from his commanding officer, because that officer had died in the years since he’d served. The AAA’s in-person interview component would be a tremendous help in the effort to save these and other Afghan allies.
The AAA is the government help my fellow veterans, our Afghan allies, and I have been searching for since the betrayal of Afghanistan. Could it become a reality?
“I’m encouraged [by] strong bipartisan support to finally get this done,” said Miller-Meeks. She pointed out that President Donald Trump had posted on Truth Social that he intends to help Afghans who aided our military.
I’m profoundly grateful to Reps. Jason Crow, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and all lawmakers supporting the AAA. I pray for their success with the bill. The Afghan Adjustment Act could, at last, save thousands of Afghan allies, including a good Afghan man to whom I owe my life. It is what I am banking on when I send him the message, as I’ve done for years now, “You are not forgotten. Have hope. We’ll get you out.”
Trent Reedy, author of several books including Enduring Freedom, served as a combat engineer in the Iowa Army National Guard from 1999 to 2005, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
*Some names and call signs in this story may have been changed due to operational security or privacy concerns.